Roofs on industrial buildings are frequently covered by a membrane made from a rubber like material. These membranes form a watertight cover that lasts for a number of years and can be applied in a short period of time. Flat roofs as well as roofs with a slope are covered by these rubber membranes.
Rubber sheets for constructing a roofing membrane are formed and then rolled. Each roll of rubber sheet material is generally four to eight feet wide or so and can be several hundred feet long. For use on large buildings, the sheet material can be more than eight feet wide.
A roll of rubber roofing material is lifted to a roof and then unrolled on the roof with one edge overlapping an edge of another sheet of rubber roofing material. The overlap is generally about three to nine inches. The overlapping edge is then folded over to expose the overlapped edge.
A roll of adhesive material is then unrolled on the exposed overlapped edge. This adhesive material is a rubber like compound that is deposited on a strip of separation film and then rolled up. These adhesive material and separation film rolls are generally 2, 4, 6 or 8 inches wide. The separation film strip is on top of the adhesive material strip after the roll is unrolled. The separation film is then removed from the upper surface of the adhesive material strip and the overlapping edge of roofing material is unfolded and placed in contact with the adhesive material strip. A roller applies pressure to the overlapping edge to form a watertight seal between the overlapped edge and the overlapping edge.
The separation film is currently wadded up and stuffed into plastic bags as it is removed from the adhesive material. A plastic bag holds a limited quantity of the wadded up strip of separation film. It is therefore necessary to contain and store a number of plastic bags filled with separation film on the roof until they can be carried to the ground for disposal.
Occasionally wind catches an unsecured strip of separation film material and carries it off the roof. These strips of loose separation film are difficult to retrieve for proper disposal once they are blown off the roof and scattered around on the ground.
Plastic bags are somewhat expensive. Disposal of plastic bags is also a problem. Most plastics are made from hydrocarbons and may require several decades to disintegrate in a landfill. If incinerated, toxic gases may be formed from plastic bags thereby creating additional environmental problems.